Table Of ContentNon-cognitive Skills and Factors in Educational
Attainment
CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO RESEARCH IN
LEARNING INNOVATIONS
Volume 9
Series Editors
Myint Swe Khine, Emirates College for Advanced Education,
United Arab Emirates
Lim Cher Ping, Hong Kong Institute of Education, China
Donald Cunningham, Indiana University, USA
International Advisory Board
Kanji Akahori, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Jerry Andriessen, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Tom Boyles, London Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
Thanasis Daradoumis, University of Catalonia, Spain
Arnold Depickere, Murdoch University, Australia
Roger Hartley, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Victor Kaptelinin, Umea University, Sweden
Paul Kirschner, Open University of the Netherlands, The Netherlands
Konrad Morgan, University of Bergen, Norway
Richard Oppermann, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Joerg Zumbach, University of Salzburg, Austria
Rationale
Learning today is no longer confined to schools and classrooms. Modern information
and communication technologies make the learning possible anywhere, any time.
The emerging and evolving technologies are creating a knowledge era, changing
the educational landscape, and facilitating the learning innovations. In recent years
educators find ways to cultivate curiosity, nurture creativity and engage the mind of
the learners by using innovative approaches.
Contemporary Approaches to Research in Learning Innovations explores approaches
to research in learning innovations from the learning sciences view. Learning
sciences is an interdisciplinary field that draws on multiple theoretical perspectives
and research with the goal of advancing knowledge about how people learn. The
field includes cognitive science, educational psychology, anthropology, computer
and information science and explore pedagogical, technological, sociological and
psychological aspects of human learning. Research in these approaches examines
the social, organizational and cultural dynamics of learning environments, construct
scientific models of cognitive development, and conduct design-based experiments.
Contemporary Approaches to Research in Learning Innovations covers research
in developed and developing countries and scalable projects which will benefit
everyday learning and universal education. Recent research includes improving
social presence and interaction in collaborative learning, using epistemic games to
foster new learning, and pedagogy and praxis of ICT integration in school curricula.
Non-cognitive Skills and Factors in Educational
Attainment
Edited by
Myint Swe Khine and Shaljan Areepattamannil
Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates
A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-94-6300-589-0 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-590-6 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-591-3 (e-book)
Published by: Sense Publishers,
P.O. Box 21858,
3001 AW Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
https://www.sensepublishers.com/
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 2016 Sense Publishers
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the
exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and
executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I: Introduction
1. Non-cognitive Skills and Factors in Educational Success and
Academic Achievement 3
Myint Swe Khine
Part II: Conceptual and Theoretical Underpinnings
2. Connecting Noncognitive Development to the Educational Pipeline 13
Kevin T. Petway II, Meghan W. Brenneman and Patrick C. Kyllonen
3. The Need to Address Non-cognitive Skills in the Education Policy
Agenda 31
Emma García
4. Non-Cognitive Variables and Academic Achievement: The Role of
General and Academic Self-Efficacy and Trait Emotional Intelligence 65
Maria-Jose Sanchez-Ruiz, Jamil El Khoury, George Saadé and
Miriam Salkhanian
5. Considering Non-cognitive Factors in the Preparation and Selection of
Educators 87
John R. McIntyre and Rebecca Vecchione
6. Understanding Attitudes in Education: New Directions for Assessment 111
Anastasiya A. Lipnevich, Kalina Gjicali and Stefan Krumm
7. Relation Between Non-cognitive Factors of Learning and the Students’
Academic Performance 129
Valerica Anghelache
Part III: Evidence from Empirical Research Studies
8. Non-cognitive Influences on Academic Achievement: Evidence from
PISA and TIMSS 153
Jihyun Lee and Lazar Stankov
9. A Synthesis of Causal Evidence Linking Non-cognitive Skills to Later
Outcomes for Children and Adolescents 171
Leslie Morrison Gutman and Ingrid Schoon
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
10. Non-cognitive Factors of Learning as Early Indicators of Students
At-Risk of Failing in Tertiary Education 199
Geraldine Gray, Colm McGuinness and Philip Owende
11. The Measurement of Social and Emotional Skills and their Association
with Academic Attainment in British Cohort Studies 239
Heather Joshi, Bilal Nasim and Alissa Goodman
12. Non-cognitive Assessment and Student Engagement 265
Anna Nadirova and John Burger
13. Implicit Broken Structure: The Multidimensionality of Non-Cognitive
Factors in Higher Education 293
Danny Moiré Thom and Marni Finkelstein
14. The Study of Non-cognitive Attributes in Education: Proposing the
Mental Toughness Framework 315
Peter Clough, Steven Oakes, Neil Dagnall, Helen St Clair-Thompson
and Sarah McGeown
15. Mental Toughness: Correlates with Educational Outcomes 331
Helen St Clair-Thompson and Sarah McGeown
16. It Is Not about “Being Best in the World” … It Is about “Being Best for
the World” 355
Margaret Anne Carter, Merilyn Dasson and Katerina Kanakis
17. The Role of Non-cognitive Factors in Pathways to College Attendance
and Degree Completion 373
Suh-Ruu Ou and Arthur J. Reynolds
18. Non-cognitive Correlates of Emirati Adolescents’ Mathematics
Performance: A Multilevel Analysis 397
Shaljan Areepattamannil, Anita G. Welch, Michael Melkonian and
Sumaya Saqr
19. Noncognitive Skills: Intergenerational Transmission and Their Effect on
Education and Employment Outcomes 411
Ildefonso Mendez and Gema Zamarro
20. Non-cognitive Variables and Academic Success: What Factors Influence
Mathematics Achievement? 429
Ernest Afari and Myint Swe Khine
Index 443
vi
PART I
INTRODUCTION
MYINT SWE KHINE
1. NON-COGNITIVE SKILLS AND FACTORS
IN EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS AND
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
INTRODUCTION
In the past decades the prediction of academic success has been considered
dependent to cognitive factors such as intelligence and academic abilities. However,
in recent years researchers in education and social sciences have recognized that
non-cognitive factors and skills play a critical role in educational success and
achievement (Stankov & Lee, 2014). Researchers firmly believe that non-cognitive
factors and skills are equally or even more important than cognitive aspects in
educative process and employment potential. When identifying the personal qualities
that require to functioning well in the 21st century, the role of non-cognitive factors
are often highlighted in the discourse. Increasing attempts are made to investigate the
role of non-cognitive factors and how it associates with academic and life success.
Barrett (2014) noted that non-cognitive factors should be taken seriously. The
notion of ‘non-cognitive’ has many phraseological collocations. Among frequently
used collocators are constructs, traits, skills, factors, abilities, variables, outcomes,
attributes, and predictors. In addition myriad of other specific factors have been
identified as non-cognitive. To name a few, grit, tenacity, curiosity, attitudes,
self-concept, self-efficacy, anxiety, coping strategies, motivation, perseverance,
confidence are among those frequently referred to in the literature. In some instances
non-cognitive factors are considered multifaceted. Some refer to as soft skills and
personal characteristics that fall into the affective domain.
The chapters in this book attempt to address in defining non-cognitive traits, ways
to measure them, impact of non-cognitive factors and skills and how they can affect
the positive outcomes in academic achievement, influence in employability, and
success in social life. Some intervention strategies in improving non-cognitive skills
are also described. The book is organized into three parts. After the introduction
in the first part, the chapters in the second part address conceptual and theoretical
foundations on non-cognitive factors. The third part consists of evidence from
empirical studies including correlational and longitudinal analyses that signify the
relationship between specific non-cognitive factors and educational attainment.
M. S. Khine & S. Areepattamannil (Eds.), Non-cognitive Skills and Factors in Educational
Attainment, 3–9.
© 2016 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved.
M. S. KHINE
CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS
This chapter in Part I portrays the synopsis of the chapters in the book. The
chapters in Part II describe the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of non-
cognitive factors and skills. Chapter 2 on the importance of non-cognitive skills
to educational pipeline is presented by Petway II, Brenneman and Kyllonen. The
authors noted that the concept of educational pipeline that includes a series of
important transitions from high school to graduation and entry to the workforce.
They discussed that non-cognitive skills such as social awareness, resilience, self-
confidence, self-management and motivation are important for successful transition
through the educational pipeline. They suggested that the development of such
skills early, starting from childhood to adolescence could help in their success in
schools and beyond.
In Chapter 3, Emma Garcia reiterated the need to address non-cognitive skills in
the educational process. The chapter reviewed what is known about the non-cognitive
skills, what they are, why they are important and how these affect the educational
process. Some of the skills listed are critical thinking, problem solving, social, and
emotional health. Other skills include self-control, self-regulation, persistence,
academic confidence, team work, organizational and communication skills. It is
also important to note that the list may grow or shrink and specific definitions of
each skill may vary on age and other relevant factors. The chapter proposed some
guidelines for how to design educational policy that can nurture the non-cognitive
skills in classrooms. The notion of educated person was highlighted and suggested
that educational policies must establish the strategies to help individuals to become
fully educated.
Sanchez-Ruiz and her colleagues from Lebanese American University noted that
variables such as conscientiousness, academic motivation, emotional intelligence
and self-efficacy are recognized as non-cognitive factors that can affect academic
performance. In their chapter (Chapter 4) the authors focused on self-efficacy
constructs such as academic and emotional self-efficacy, highlight the relationship
between self-efficacy and academic performance, and discuss the issues related to
measurement of variables, research designs and statistical methods. The authors
pointed out the lack of cross-cultural research in this area and divergence effects
of cultural differences and academic systems that might inhibit in generalizing the
results.
In Chapter 5, McIntyre and Vecchione described that “Non-cognitive factors
affect learning; they are not its effect”. The authors examined the three particular
non-cognitive factors, namely grit, persistence and resilience and their relationship
to teacher effectiveness. Their study attempts to examine the following issues –
(i) nature of cognitive vs. non-cognitive factors in teaching and learning, (ii) evidence
of non-cognitive factors – grit, persistence and resilience in schools, (iii) non-
cognitive factors and teacher preparation and development and (iv) non-cognitive
factors and selection and retention of teachers.
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